This article is a review of THOR: THE DARK WORLD.

“We are not gods,” Odin (Anthony Hopkins) to Loki (Tom Hiddleston) The audience is now well into phase two of the Marvel movie universe. After THE AVENGERS, Tony Stark had to come to terms with post-traumatic stress disorder in IRON MAN 3. Here we see what has happened to Loki, the mastermind behind the mayhem in the ensemble smackdown. He is locked away in a dungeon below the kingdom of Asgard, not though until receiving a scolding by adopted father Odin. But before we get to witness his fate, the audience is treated to some history. As with the original THOR, there is some LORD OF THE RINGS-style mythology prologue to feast on/get past (depending on your fantasy leaning). Odin’s father Bor (Tony Curran) 5000 years earlier led an Asgardian force to prevent the Dark Elves, headed by Malekith (Christopher Eccleston), from unleashing an extraordinary power that would destroy the nine realms and bring darkness back to the universe. As Odin eventually explains, as the universe had a dawn, so must it have a dusk. This power, known as the “Aether”, unable to be destroyed, was taken from Malekith and hidden. The Dark Elf chief managed to escape.

There is imagination and fantasy and sci-fi for those that love it; do not worry those who shiver at the thought, there is plenty of spectacle and humour and occasional emotional moments to keep the energy levels at maximum. The two-hour runtime zooms by. So much so, a second viewing is probably required to double-check how strongly the story elements hang together. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) have been pining for each other; unable to be reunited since the Bifrost, the interstellar gateway, was destroyed. She has spent two years looking for a way to reach him. Finding herself in London, Jane stumbles across a rupture in the universe caused by the every-five-millennia occurrence of the “Convergence” where the nine realms align. (We get to see some of the planets, expanding the Marvel playpen.) Falling into a rupture she discovers the forgotten Aether, which latches on to her. Heimdall (Idris Elba), the guardian of the Bifrost, has been keeping watch over her for Thor, and when she vanishes the latter comes to Earth and they are reunited. (One realises this paragraph is jargon heavy, roll with me if you will.) Jane is brought to Asgard to see what can be done for her. At the same time Malekith awakens from sleep aboard his spaceship and heads to retrieve the Aether now that the nine realms are aligning, necessary to unleash the power’s full force.

The attack on the Norse kingdom is striking. Collateral damage and death is widespread, and unusual for a comic book movie. We get Heimdall showing what a badass he is, as does Thor’s mother Frigga (Rene Russo), who demoes she’s no wallflower. And that is one thing refreshing about THOR: THE DARK WORLD, how the women are not just eye candy for the heroes to protect. You have Jane, one of the brightest scientists on Earth narrowing the gap of knowledge between us and Asgard, having a 5000 year head start; then there’s warrior Sif (Jaimie Alexander); and the hilarious Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) – like a Shakespearean jester, wittily commenting on the absurdity around her. THE DARK WORLD never loses sight of how nutty some of this is, especially on Earth where the juxtaposition of Dark Elves, Thor’s magical hammer Mjolnir and floating vehicles could be get too much to swallow. As with the flying space monsters attacking New York in THE AVENGERS, the filmmakers tread deftly along the fine line of creating a winsome, pacy blockbuster. It helps that they have the likes of Hiddleston, Hopkins, Portman, Tadanobu Asano and Stellan Skarsgård in their corner. You might be thinking: After the Tesseract, now we have another McGuffin, the Aether?! Stick around for the two post credit scenes. The Marvel universe is getting so wonderfully intricate.

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